AquaInverts vs HydroCrowd

Through stimulating research and sound science, the Atlantic Salmon Trust is the foremost evidence-based salmon conservation charity in the UK. Fighting to halt the dramatic decline in wild Atlantic salmon stocks, the Trust is on a mission to protect this iconic species and safeguard their future. The wild salmon population is in drastic decline. In the mid 1980s, there were between 8 and 10 million salmon leaping around the Atlantic. That number has now plummeted to between 2 and 3 million, revealing a dramatic population free-fall that shows no signs of levelling out. So much so, that the wild Atlantic salmon could become an endangered species in 10 years’ time, disappearing from our seas and rivers altogether in just 20 or 30 years. This is a warning we simply cannot ignore. The Atlantic Salmon Trust exists solely for the protection of wild salmon and sea trout. It is our aim to create a positive future for these at-risk species; using scientific research to understand their decline, and using the generous donations from our supporters to put evidence-based solutions into practice. Wild Atlantic salmon are an iconic species with a remarkable history. They are uniquely placed to inform us of the quality of our waters, and form an incredibly important part of the ecosystem of our rivers. We cannot afford to lose them—and that’s why everything we do at the Trust is designed to put #WildSalmonFirst

HydroCrowd is a research project of the Justus Liebig University Giessen, which investigates the potential of participatory monitoring to increase the availability of hydro-climatic data for sustainable water management, especially in remote areas in the global south. The project will test different approaches to engage volunteers through the implementation and evaluation of a participatory hydro-climatic monitoring program in selected mountain regions in Ecuador, Honduras and Tanzania. Furthermore, it will demonstrate how the data collected by the volunteers can be used in hydrological modelling and, therefore, improve the prediction of climate change impact on water resources in data-scarce regions. The project outputs can be used to guide the development of future participatory monitoring programs and stimulate upscaling of the approach to other regions to address the lack of hydro-climatic data for evidence-based decision making and sustainable water management. Volunteers participate by reporting measurements from easy-to-use instruments at weather and water stations installed in the project areas in Ecuador, Honduras and Tanzania. These measurements include rainfall, air temperature and humidity, as well as the water level and turbidity of rivers and streams. To evaluate the quality of the data, the data will be compared with automated reference measurements at selected sites. These are then systematically examined and tested for their suitability for modeling. This app enables easy submission of data by the volunteers and provides instructions on how to collect data. Furthermore, users can view the data previously submitted by other volunteers. As the remote study areas have limited network access, it is recommended to download the map of your region and the locations of the stations before going to any of the HydroCrowd stations. In addition to reporting measurements from the HydroCrowd stations, volunteers also have the opportunity to create spots to record their own rainfall data, and to report weather events using ‘photo notes’. The HydroCrowd Citizen Science App is running on the SPOTTERON Platform.